io8 Breeding Plants and Animals. 



and cheese in cooperative factories, so why could not 

 the State do an equal or greater service by assisting in 

 the breeding of animals? 



The works of our breeders are truly wonderful. 

 Whoever visited the recent International at Chicago 

 could not but realize that most substantial progress has 

 been made. The champion steer in 1902, for example, 

 was a marvel of strength, richness and beauty. And 

 whole herds of his black sisters and brothers in the 

 show-yards of the recent shows have helped him to 

 add highest glory to the "doddies." The Galloways 

 in their beautiful coats have come forward in recent 

 shows in splendid form. The Short-horns and Here- 

 fords calmly divided honors with the "black-skins," 

 remembering past honors and looking forward to future 

 conquests. The delighted visiting throngs of expert 

 stockmen, of noted breeders and the interested lookers- 

 on were enchanted. The consensus of opinion was 

 that beef stock had wellnigh reached perfection. The 

 writer visited the show of 1902 to place himself again 

 in this spell of wonder and admiration brought on by 

 these many show-finished animals, and infectious from 

 man to man. He wondered for a moment if these ar- 

 ticles needing final revision should be sent to The Ga- 

 zette or would it be better to let well enough alone. 

 But when his thoughts again went back to the seed 

 laboratory, which is full of records for a dozen genera- 

 tions of the performing ability of myriads of wheat 

 plants, oat plants, and of other wealth-producing forms 

 of plant life, he again heard the silent message of these 

 records. They remind the investigator that plants 

 yield to science as well as to art. They urge that there 

 are "Shakespeares in every species," "Messengers and 

 Stoke Pogises in every breed" and that records of ac- 

 tual performance help not only to find the individuals 

 with such marvelous breed-forming powers, but are 

 useful in aiding the best of the breed to become the 

 whole of the future breed. These records further re- 

 call the fact that our excellent breeds of live stock are 



